Mile High City author and freelancer Jason Heller, third from left, won the highest honor in the sci-fi world on Sunday. Photo courtesy of James J. Seals.

Jason Heller yesterday achieved something most science fiction writers only dream of when they’re dreaming up all the insane, brilliant stuff they write about: he won a Hugo Award.

The highly coveted prize, which the Denver author received at WorldCon in San Antonio, recognized his contributions to the sci-fi and spec-fiction magazine Clarkesworld, which won its third Hugo in the category of Best Semiprozine (which is not, as it may sound, a cybernetic ocular implant or pharmaceutical derivative).

The category denotes “an established format of science fiction and fantasy publication that focuses on short fiction,” according to a Clarkesworld press release. Heller, who served as the magazine’s nonfiction editor in 2012, shares the award with his Clarkesworld colleagues Neil Clarke, Sean Wallace and Kate Baker.

It’s a stunning high point for someone who, only a few short years ago, was churning out music features for Westword and playing in local punk bands.

“Working with the Clarkesworld staff in 2012 was an amazing experience,” Heller told me via e-mail today. “I had the privilege of editing some amazing freelance writers on various articles and columns concerning science fiction and fantasy, and I was able to indulge a love of those genres I’ve had since I was a kid. Thanks to the vision of Neil, Sean, and Kate, Clarkesworld has tapped into that imaginative tradition of canonical science fiction and fantasy, but more than that the magazine is a bridge into the future of the genres. Science fiction and fantasy have never been more popular, but Clarkesworld is where the edge gets cut.”

In recent years, Heller has proven himself a prolific and wide-ranging writer, tackling music and culture as a senior writer for The A.V. Club (and former editor of the Denver/Boulder edition), as author of the lauded spec-fiction novel “Taft 2012″ and as a freelance contributor to Pitchfork, Weird Tales, Tor.com, Fantasy Magazine, Alternative Press, Skyscraper, The Hooligan, New Haven Review and various sci-fi publications.

“There is sheer desperation behind my move to try to become an author,” Heller told me last January shortly before “Taft 2012″ was published. “Quite honestly, if this doesn’t work out for me, I’m going to go work in a warehouse for the rest of my life.”

Joe Nguyen is the online prep sports editor for The Denver Post. He had prior worked with the Post's YourHub section, covering Adams County and Aurora. His obsessions have ranged from comics books and...

A nerd who is intrigued by all things extraordinary and otherworldly. When he’s not working, he can be found in a small room, playing D&D, pretending to be a three-foot gnome who charges dragons while mounted on a fox.